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Greg Evans
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Everyone has got a favourite movie poster but let's be honest, these airbrushed and photoshopped pieces of art can, after a while, all start to look the same.
If you are after something a little bit different, say an alternative take on Mrs. Doubtfire, Batman or Jurassic Park then look no further than the wonderful world of African movie posters.
When movies were shown in certain countries and theatres in Africa, a lot of the time they had received no prior knowledge or information about the movie other than its title and the odd picture.
Due to licensing laws in the 70s and 80s which prevented the importation of large-scale printing presses, some theatres would often employ an artist to create a poster for them using only the resources that they had available.
The results, as proven by this Twitter thread shared by @Retr0Joe, is proof that some of these artists had a far more vivid imagination than some whizz kid with great Photoshop skills.
Prepare for unnecessary violence, lots of machine guns and artists who clearly have no idea about the film they have made a poster for.
Here are some of our favourites (and don't blame us if they ruin some of your most cherished childhood memories).
Mrs Doubtfire
A thread of African Movie Posters... Due to licensing and printing costs, some African theaters gave the task to a… https://t.co/wfuxhf8yV5— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578664119
Space Jam
Space Jam https://t.co/E4T24bURE1— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578664121
Jurassic Park (which was clearly influenced by the Jeff Goldblum meme)
Jurassic Park https://t.co/IKSdxGBy0y— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578664124
Mission Impossible starring Tom Cruise???
Mission Impossible https://t.co/4vdV7b7Ulx— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578664131
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street https://t.co/J9ZjC2ySjD— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578664134
Alien vs Predator
Alien vs Predator https://t.co/iepOjJHVyV— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578664146
E.T. starring Michael Jackson and the face-hugger from Alien???
E.T https://t.co/U0YKfUDk8M— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578664153
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (for clarification: there are no ghost dogs in Ghost Dog)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai https://t.co/DfnJ9IAIqP— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578664705
Sister Act
Sister Act https://t.co/Yqs3RXzx6g— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578667834
X-Men
Xmen https://t.co/nKHabcYaff— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578667837
Indiana Jones –​ were not sure which one of the Indy film's this is supposed to be
Indiana Jones https://t.co/VCZQX6F5aJ— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578667840
The Mummy Returns starring The Rock???
The Mummy Returns : Feat @TheRock as The Scorpion King https://t.co/TPZScmPkjg— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578667842
Ghost
Ghost https://t.co/3L9g9zM7zn— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578668780
Face/Off
Face Off https://t.co/HCSh3OWf7t— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578668787
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
T.M.N.T https://t.co/6uSC3nMjRh— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578668793
Alien
Alien https://t.co/dY9uR5677t— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578668797
Mortal Kombat 3 - we should add that this film doesn't exist
Mortal Kombat...3? https://t.co/I2UIIzv7Lf— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578668803
White Chicks
White Chicks https://t.co/gBrABoNUKM— Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮 (@Gamiest Gamer 🕹🎮) 1578669781
Batman (this doesn't happen in the film)
According to a feature from The Atlantic in 2016 on African movie posters many of these originate from Ghana.
Nowadays posters of this kind no longer exist as advances in technology and change in-laws have allowed more traditional Western posters to become commonplace.
The posters have since become a cult phenomenon thanks to collectors in the west, who are now selling the posters for as much as $15,000. We can only hope the original artists get a cut of that.
According to LA art dealer Ernie Wolfe:
These posters appeal to people because [they] invite this really incredible dialogue—a comparison between what you know of a film and how the painter imagined it. And they’re also just really cool drawings.
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